Smart Closed Loop Inventory and Cooling System

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for cooling wine comprising an upper housing including an outer portion and an inner portion where a first volume is created in between the outer and inner portions, the outer portion including a tapered cup that creates a second volume in the upper housing portion for receiving wine bottles, a cold sink within a third volume created by the inner portion and the tapered cup, the cold sink coupled to a first end of a Peltier unit, a lower housing that exhausts heat removed from the upper housing, and at least one fan in the third volume, the fan coupled to and controlled by a microcontroller configured to receive temperature parameters from a client device over a communications network.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. (Provisional) Application No. 62/571,827, filed Oct. 13, 2017, which is incorporate herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present application relates to systems for managing product inventories and for cooling products placed therein, particularly wine and spirits.

Refrigeration systems for storing and cooling wine and spirits exist. Refrigerators typically hold a relatively small number of bottles of wine and they cool all bottles placed therein to approximately the same temperature. The problem with these systems, however, is that they do not account for the preferred serving temperature, which may differ between the different types of wines. Accordingly, there is a need for a system for maintaining bottles of wine and other beverages at the desired temperature individually to account for the preferred serving temperature.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides an apparatus for cooling wine. According to one embodiment, the apparatus comprises an upper housing including an outer portion and an inner portion where a first volume is created in between the outer and inner portions, the outer portion including a tapered cup that creates a second volume in the upper housing portion for receiving wine bottles, a cold sink within a third volume created by the inner portion and the tapered cup, the cold sink coupled to a first end of a Peltier unit, a lower housing that exhausts heat removed from the upper housing, and at least one fan in the third volume, the fan coupled to and controlled by a microcontroller configured to receive temperature parameters from a client device over a communications network.

The upper housing and the lower housing may be tubular and located concentrically relative to each other. The apparatus may further comprise passages at a lower end of the upper housing between the first and third volumes that allow air into the first volume. In further embodiment, the apparatus may further comprise passages at an upper end of the upper housing between the first volume and the second volume that allow the air to enter into the second volume. In yet another embodiment, the apparatus may further comprise passages between the second and third volumes that allow the air to enter into the third volume and interact with the cold sink.

In one embodiment, the tapered cup is concentric relative to the outer and inner portions. The tapered cup may include a floor that is angled or inclined relative to a base of the apparatus. The cold sink may include a plurality of stepped fins or pegs that are in contact with a tapered portion of the tapered cup. The set of outer fins of the plurality of stepped fins or pegs may be configured to be in contact with a circumferential step in the tapered cup. The microcontroller may be configured according to user specific temperature settings.

Additional aspects of the present invention will be apparent in view of the description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts exemplary serving temperature recommendations for a sample set of wines by type.

FIG. 2 depicts a diagram of the components of the system according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of a method for scanning an image of a wine bottle or vessel according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 4 depicts an image that is parsed into image components according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 5 depicts a sample database table according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 6 depicts an interface screen of an inventory item according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 7 depicts an interface for entry of a desired temperature according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 8 depicts an interface for entry of other characteristics according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 9 depicts an interface for scanning or capturing a wine bottle label according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 10 depicts an interface screen indicating the status of wines placed in cooler units according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 11 depicts a block diagram of a cooler unit system according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 12 depicts a block diagram of exemplary in-thread functions according to at least one embodiment.

FIGS. 13-15 depicts a cooler unit according to at least one embodiment.

FIG. 16 depicts a firmware flow of a tag according to at least one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Perhaps the most important factor in appreciating wine is the serving temperature, which is often overlooked. The serving temperature, however, can be crucial to unlocking the full flavor and aromas of a wine. It is proposed that each type of wine and perhaps each specific bottle has an ideal or preferred serving temperature, and one temperature is not suitable for all wines. Therefore, refrigeration systems for cooling a bunch of disparate wines will not suffice. FIG. 1 provides serving temperature recommendations for a sample set of wines by type, but more and more wine houses publish their recommended temperature list for drinking their wine.

The reason that in most cases wine cannot be enjoyed at the recommended temperature is that there is no technological solution for maintaining the various temperatures of individual bottles of wine. When wine is taken out for consumption, for example, roses, champagnes, and white wines are mostly put in an ice bucket, which will chill the beverage to 32 F, which is too cold, as the cooled wine will freeze the consumer's taste buds. Red wines are mostly warmed up to room temperature (70 F+), which is believed too hot as some of the flavor elements tend to evaporate at such temperatures.

A second problem for many wine lovers that own wine cellars or wine refrigerators is that the wines are stacked horizontally and there is no way to distinguish many wines in inventory because they are lying without the wine label visible. Moreover, existing inventory systems require a manual introduction of all the data. There is for the moment no automatic way of stocking or destocking from the wine inventory.

The present application therefore provides a system that includes a combination of software and hardware elements that create a smart cooler unit that cools the wine or other beverage placed therein to the specific serving temperature desired, preferably based on a database of wine temperatures. The system may further include smart wine tags that that are used to inventory wine in the user's collection. In one embodiment, the system is controlled using an application or app executed on a mobile device, which communicates with the other elements of system via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or any other wire or wireless communication systems, to achieve the functionality disclosed herein.

In one or more embodiments, the system configuration enables users to: determine the recommended serving temperature of every wine they scan into inventory; tag the bottle of wine so users can properly account for it in their inventory; cool the wine to the recommended serving temperature; and destock the wine from the inventory when it is consumed and preferably add a record of the wine to an archive of the user's past inventory. The app may further be configured to reorder wines when it determines that the last or near last bottle of that wine has been destocked from the inventory.

FIG. 2 depicts a diagram of the components of the system according to at least one embodiment thereof. As can be seen, the system according to this embodiment consists of a plurality of elements, including an application or app portion executed on a mobile device 102, which is programmed therewith to send instructions to the refrigeration portion 104 and/or the inventory portions 106 of the system. The refrigeration portion 104 includes a smart cooler unit and the inventory portion 106 includes a smart inventory tag, which function as discussed herein. The mobile device 102 may further control refrigerator(s) 108 for long term storage of the wine and adjust the temperature of the refrigerator(s) 108 as wines are scanned and entered in inventory.

When all components noted above are used, the system provides one or more of the following user functions:

1) The user is able to scan all wines using the app/mobile device to determine the characteristics of the wine, such as the name, type, origin, and preferred serving temperature, which app/mobile device is preferably coupled to a local or distributed database containing the characteristics of wines, including the preferred serving temperatures of the various types of wines, either by type or preferably the for each individual wine;

2) When the wine is scanned using the app/mobile device, the user may insert or otherwise install a uniquely addressed or addressable flexible tag on or near the top of the bottle, which preferably has a light sensor and a communication module that communicates with the app/mobile device. This enables the controller in the app/mobile device to inform the user/track exactly where each wine is located in the user's inventory. This aspect can be helpful particularly in a distributed inventory, for example, where the wines are maintained in different rooms or buildings;

3) When the user wants to consume or otherwise remove the wine from the inventory, using the app/mobile device the user may choose the particular wine of interest. Doing so will preferably cause the flexible tag on the selected wine to light up in the user's inventory, and the app/mobile device may further inform the user where the item is in the distributed inventory;

4) The user may then take the wine out of stock and insert the bottle in the cooler unit, which will have received the recommended temperature for the selected wine from the app/mobile device via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and cool the wine to the desired/preferred temperature indicated in the app. The app/mobile device further allows the user to override the recommended temperature and store the user specific temperature in a local wine database for future use.

Software Functionality

The Wine Temperature Database

The detection of the wine and determination of the recommended wine temperature may work as follows:

Referring to FIG. 3, a photo or scan of a wine bottle or vessel may be taken via the app/mobile device 302. The image or scan may be sent to an image analyzer 304, such as the Google vision API. To accelerate the speed of recognition of the wine, the image may be converted to a lower resolution image 306 before it is communicated to the remote service for processing 310. FIG. 4 depicts an image that is parsed into image components for remote processing 308. As can be seen, an image containing the sun and sailboat may be parsed into the individual components and each image component translated into text that may then be used to look up the wine in the wine temperature database 312. In this example, an image depicting the sun and a sailboat may be parsed into two images, which are then translated into “sun” and “sailboat.” The “sun” and “sailboat” terms may then be used as query terms along with any detected words in the image to identify the particular wine being scanned.

All the detected/translated words and letters may be fed into an algorithm, which uses near distance word recognition technology. This algorithm calculates the similarity between two texts, i.e., between the input text and the wine index. For example, the Levenshtein distance may be used which is a string metric for measuring the difference between two sequences. Informally, the Levenshtein distance between two words is the minimum number of single-character edits (insertions, deletions or substitutions) required to change one word. For shorter texts, these changes can be smaller than for longer texts. To correct for this problem, the algorithm may be adapted by dividing the distance by the logaiithmic value of the length of the text, which will give priority to longer texts.

A word database that is being matched may be a database consisting of thousands of words, for example, in 4 categories, that each will be matched to the detected/translated text in a specific order: such as first wines from certain domains with their domain specific temperature, then wines from regions, wines with the grape names, and finally general back up words. In each loop, a value is matched to the degree of recognition of the word. When there is no match that surpasses the chosen minimum matching value, the algorithm may go to the next loop or category. When a match is not found, the value may be lowered, and the detection process starts anew. This process may be stopped at a defined lower value at which time the app/mobile device will indicate that it didn't find a sufficient match in the database. In that instance, the user may enter domain, region, type, etc., of the wine being inventoried manually into the app/mobile device.

This whole process may be amended by different corrections established on the basis of testing. For example, one letter words may be eliminated as well as smaller generic words such as “du” or “yin.” Furthermore, there may be tweaks to the detection of letters versus figures to be able to detect the vintage. Letters, which resemble ‘I’ close to other figures, may be changed to ‘1’, for example. FIG. 5 provides a sample database table for use in identifying wines and the associated characteristics information, such as serving temperature.

The cooler application or app/mobile device

The cooler app preferably has one or more of the following main functions:

1) INVENTORY: The app contains or otherwise provides a listing of all wines which have been inventoried, as discussed herein, preferably each having been provided a tag, along with the characteristic information, including the preferred serving temperature for each of the wines in the listing.

2) ARCHIVE: The app archives all the wines that the user inventoried either by scanning or manually entering data, that the user may have consumed (e.g., tagged and removed).

3) CONTROL: The app acts as the controller of the cooler unit or cooler units and will instruct the cooler unit(s) wirelessly to cool the bottle to the specified temperature.

Although the app is discussed as being part of a separate mobile device, it is understood that each cooler unit may alternatively or additionally have this functionality, including the ability to scan and inventory bottles, archive, and control the temperature of bottles placed therein based on the scanned information.

FIG. 6 depicts an interface screen displayed by the app showing a bottle of wine in inventory along with the characteristics, type (red), vintage (2015), and preferred temperature (16 C). FIG. 7-8 depict an interface for manual entry of the desired temperature and other characteristics. FIG. 9 depicts an interface screen for scanning or otherwise capturing an image of the wine bottle label. FIG. 10 depicts an interface screen indicating the status of wines placed in cooler units, which information is transmitted from the cooler units to the app/mobile device wirelessly.

The Cooler Unit

FIG. 11 depicts a block diagram of the cooler unit system. As can be seen, the system includes a microcontroller (MCU), which preferably includes a hardware interface that operatively couples the MCU to the battery, battery charger, Peltier driver (Peltier unit, fan, etc.), as well as one or more sensors, such as IR contactless temperature sensor. The MCU further includes or is coupled to a communication unit, enabling, for example, wireless connectivity, such as IR, Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth, with the app/mobile device and/or the tag. The system further includes memory, such as flash memory that stores thereon instructions and information to provide the functionality discussed herein. In one embodiment, the system includes a display and input devices, such as buttons for users to input selections.

In one embodiment, the system includes a sensor board, coupled to the microcontroller, that is operable to detect the temperature of the bottle, presence of the bottle in the cooler unit, read capacitive keys, etc.

In one embodiment, the system includes a power board that is responsible for controlling the energy use of the system, including charging the battery and optimizing the cooling. In this regard, the power board controls the Peltier unit, the fans, and additionally the charging control.

Internet of Things Software & the Cloud

The software for the system is preferably implemented on different layers. On the one hand, there is the controller board firmware. In addition, there may also be firmware for the (optional) tags for inventory control as discussed herein. Additionally, the app and finally the cloud software make up the second and third layers.

Firmware Controller Board

As a microcontroller, the controller board preferably has an embedded solution product, esp32 WROOM module or equivalent, which is a SoC (system on chip) that has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. These may be programmed through the Arduino framework. The connection of the controller board is via Wi-Fi allows the system to send and receive messages to the cloud via, e.g., the MQTT protocol.

The firmware may flow through the principle proto-threading because the microcontroller in the esp32 is single-threaded. This means that in the main thread there are features that are >100 ms in progress and that the longer-lasting features run when a particular event has occurred. This is based on time or input. This can be considered an interrupt-based design pattern. It is understood that multi-threading may also be implemented in this design.

FIG. 12 depicts a block diagram of exemplary in-thread functions. The in-thread functions include measuring the temperature of the bottle, detecting and listening to the bottle (tags), etc. Controlling the Peltier unit, sending a message on MQTT, and display handler are functions that can take some more time and are performed on an event basis. Thus, the display will be updated whenever the new value is due via MQTT, whereas the Peltier unit may be controlled as a function of the temperature sensor.

There may also be a configuration mode on the firmware controller board, for example, to store the credentials of the Wi-Fi network in the ESP32 flash storage. In this mode, the esp32 may set up a Wi-Fi network where the app can connect and can talk with the Representational State Transfer (REST) API running on the esp32. In this instance, the app can send the credential data from the app/mobile device to the controller via a mail request.

The Cooling Algorithm

To establish the ideal serving temperature, the cooler unit preferably employs an algorithm which calculates the temperature of the wine-based on a physical observation of the temperature of the bottle itself with a contact temperature sensor, preferably with a correction factor which takes into account the following factors: the temperature deviation between the bottle itself and the liquid after extensive testing in two scenarios: wine that has been cooled beforehand and has the same temperature as the bottle itself at the starting point and wine that has a different temperature than the bottle due to factors like the amount of liquid that it is left in the bottle.

The Cooler Unit

The cooler unit according to one embodiment is shown in FIG. 13. As can be seen, the unit includes upper and lower housing portions. The upper housing portion represents the portion of the unit for cooling (removing heat from) the bottle placed therein and the lower portion represents the portion for exhausting the heat removed from the bottle in the upper housing portion and the various controllers/boards discussed herein. The upper housing portion includes an outer 1302 and an inner 1304 upper housing portion, which creates a first volume there between. The housings are preferably essentially tubular and are located concentrically relative to each other so that the space is preferably consistent circumferentially throughout the upper housing portion. The upper housing portion further includes a tapered cup 1306, preferably metallic, that creates a recess or second volume in the upper housing portion for receiving bottles placed into the unit for cooling. The tapered cup 1306 is preferably concentric relative to the outer and inner upper portion. The tapered cup 1306 includes a floor 1308 that is preferably at an angle or inclined, e.g., 5-25 degrees, relative to a level reference such as the base 1312 of the unit so that bottles placed therein tilt toward one end of the unit, as shown. This structure beneficially locates bottles placed in the unit toward a sensor at or near the lowest portion of the tapered cup that detects the presence of bottles in the unit, as shown in FIG. 14, temperature of the bottle, etc.

Within the upper housing portion, the inner upper portion 1304 and the tapered cup 1306 create a third volume in which a cold sink 1310 is located. The cold sink is coupled to a first end of the Peltier unit for removing heat from the upper unit and thus cooling bottles placed therein. The cold sink preferable includes a plurality of stepped fins or pegs that accommodate and come into contact with the tapered portion of the tapered cup 1306. In one embodiment, an outer set of outer fins (or pegs) contact a circumferential step in the tapered cup 1306. The step may be essentially parallel to the plane of the base 1312 of the unit. In one embodiment, the cold sink 1310 includes a plurality of fins (or pegs) having heights that mimic the tilt of the floor 1308 so as to come into contact therewith for direct heat transfer. The various volumes may be in communication with each other to allow airflow for convection or forced air-cooling of the tapered cup and bottle placed therein. Specifically, a fan in the third volume may force air to circulate through passages at the lower end of the upper housing portion between the first and third volumes, into the first volume. Passages at the upper end of the upper housing portion between the first volume and the second volume allow the forced air to enter into the second volume to cool the bottles placed therein. Finally, passages between the second and third volumes allow the warmed air to enter into the third volume where it is exposed to the cold sink 1310 for removal of the heat therefrom.

It is understood that the current flow in the Peltier unit may be reversed to provide heating in the upper housing portion of the unit. Although Peltier cooling was chosen to control the inner compartment temperature, it is understood that other cooling may be used for the cooler unit. The Peltier cooling consists of two different metal interfaces with electric current causing a temperature differential between the interfaces that enables the refrigeration cycle discussed herein. The interfaces may be provided with a ceramic plate.

To work efficiently, the heat should be removed from the volumes very quickly, which is where the challenge is when working with Peltier. The efficiency is mainly determined by the speed and size of the cold sink. The higher the temperature difference between hot and cold sides, the lower the cooling power, the lower the efficiency. The intention is to provide each separate compartment on the inside of the unit with a Peltier element and a separate fan for individual temperature control. That is, the upper and lower portions of the unit may each have its own fan controlled by the microcontroller/power board to efficiently remove heat from the system.

The heat from the Peltier unit would be discharged through a central boiler system and one fan in the lower portion of the unit. For temperature control, an algorithm may be implemented in which:

1. The Peltier's efficiency will remain as high as possible.

2. The bottle placed in each compartment is cooled to the desired storage temperature as soon as possible, depending on the difference between measured and desired maximum temperature.

3. It is possible to heat a bottle.

4. The compartments should be well insulated, thermal and air-technical.

5. Power is used.

Cold/Heat Sink

The cold or heat sinks may have the following functions:

The cold sink is located in the upper housing portion of the cooler and is generally responsible for providing the cold interface. In combination with the fan the cold air is blown around the wine bottle to cool the whole bottle to the preferred temperature. The fan may blow the air first through the cold sink volume and then into the tapered cup volume. The unit preferably includes a flexible closing system at the top of the upper housing portion, as shown in FIG. 15, which allows the wine to be inserted in the bottle, and which prevents warm air from entering the cooler unit and more preferably the tapered cup, and for cooled air from escaping. In addition there may be an extra plastic cap that can be put on the top of the cooler to close the system and prevent any air escaping the closing system from coming out. The tapered cup 1306 is preferably sufficiently deep to accommodate most of the wine bottle (e.g., 50-85%) for the quickest and uniform cooling of the bottle.

The unit is preferably programmed to provide an initial boost of cooling to quickly cool the bottle placed therein, followed by a steady cooling to maintain the desired temperature. For example, the Peltier unit may be run at, e.g., 100 watts for boost duration, followed by a steady state of 6 watts. The fan(s) too may be exposed to, e.g., 12 volts for the boost duration of the boost and then to 4 volts thereafter during the maintenance duration.

The cooler unit may further include a booster cap in combination with a rubber holder or grommet 1502 that conforms to the shape of the bottle to prevent cold air lost in the upper housing portion of the cooler unit. Additionally, the cooler unit may comprise one or more cold sinks and fans that are configured to operate at 120-watt capacity. The cold sink may be further configured at the top of the cooler unit to maintain the cold longer. According to another embodiment, two low noise fans may be installed in the interior of the cooler, one that dissipates the heat in the bottom that is absorbed by the cold sink and another in the top side of the cooler that blows the air via special air flow vents past the cold sink to the top of the cooler which guarantees a permanent flow of cold air. Accordingly, the cooler unit may provide accurate temperature control and adjustment of up to 1° Fahrenheit which is impossible with other cooling technologies like compression cooling or ice.

Batteries

The batteries are preferably lithium ion rechargeable, which allows the system to be used cordlessly. The unit may further be equipped with a contactless charging station.

Low Noise Fans and Guide Vane

In a preferred embodiment, the unit has two fans, the fan in the cold part is used to circulate the cold air and is placed under the bottom of the bottle. The fan in the warm portion may be integrated in the cold sink and may be linked to a guide vane to direct the air produced by the fan to the middle of the cold sink.

Smart Tag

In one embodiment, the tag includes a low power microcontroller with a Bluetooth connection, such as the Nrf52xxx chip from Nordic. The tag may be provided with firmware using the Nordic SDK, which is a c++ SDK that is completely built for the NRF chips of Nordic. FIG. 16 depicts the firmware flow of the tag. The tag will preferably wake up at a certain intervals after which it will listen to BLE for advertising packets. Once a packet is received, the handler will see whether the Service universally unique identifier (UUID) matches its preset UUID. If matched, the RGB handler will be executed to provide the functionality discussed herein.

While the foregoing has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity and understanding, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, from a reading of the disclosure, that various changes in form and detail can be made without departing from the true scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for cooling wine, the apparatus comprising: an upper housing including an outer portion and an inner portion where a first volume is created in between the outer and inner portions, the outer portion including a tapered cup that creates a second volume in the upper housing portion for receiving wine bottles; a cold sink within a third volume created by the inner portion and the tapered cup, the cold sink coupled to a first end of a Peltier unit; a lower housing that exhausts heat removed from the upper housing; and at least one fan in the third volume, the fan coupled to and controlled by a microcontroller configured to receive temperature parameters from a client device over a communications network.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the upper housing and the lower housing are tubular and located concentrically relative to each other.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising passages at a lower end of the upper housing between the first and third volumes that air into the first volume.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising passages at an upper end of the upper housing between the first volume and the second volume that allow the air to enter into the second volume.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising passages between the second and third volumes that allow the air to enter into the third volume and interact with the cold sink.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tapered cup is concentric relative to the outer and inner portions.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tapered cup includes a floor that is angled or inclined relative to a base of the apparatus.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the cold sink includes a plurality of stepped fins or pegs that are in contact with a tapered portion of the tapered cup.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein a set of outer fins of the plurality of stepped fins or pegs are in contact with a circumferential step in the tapered cup.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the microcontroller is configured according to user specific temperature settings. 